The Scotland Women’s National Team take on Wales tonight in the second friendly match of this campaign at Parc y Scarlets, home to the rugby union side Scarlets.
The Scots will go in to match with confidence following their 0-1 victory over Northern Ireland side on Thursday.
The tie will be the Welsh side’s first outing since April when they drew with Denmark 1-1. Gemma Grainger’s side will also be using the match to prepare for the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification campaign which begins in September this year.
In last week’s game against Northern Ireland, the camps new faces Leah Eddie, Brianna Westrup, and Christy Grimshaw made their Scotland debuts.
The match will be the seventh meeting of the sides in the past 10 years, with the previous six ties resulting in three wins for Scotland and three draws at the end of the 90 minutes.
This is the first time the two teams face each other since the Cyprus Cup in 2017, where Scotland left victorious. The match finished as a goalless draw, but the Scots went onto win 6-5 on penalties.
Although Scotland has a good track record against Wales, team Captain Rachel Corsie shares how much of a challenge the game will be. She said: “I think the Wales game will be a different challenge for us compared to the Northern Ireland game. They have a relatively new manager in place, and when someone new comes in, as a player you want to impress.
“As a team I think they will be very organised and so we need to be prepared. Hopefully we can cause some problems and create opportunities. It would be great to play at a tempo that stretches and challenges them more than what they are used to, and of course they have some really experienced players that we will need to be aware of.”
Speaking of her experience being back in an international camp, Rachel feels there is a confident mood in the team. “This is a team that’s very united. We’re genuinely really close friends and I don’t think you always get that in international football, so that’s something we can use to our advantage. Whether it’s on the pitch or off the pitch, the attitude we have is really positive and it’s a privilege to get to represent your country with such an amazing group of people.
“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we want to get back to competing in the best way that I know we can. We have some exceptionally talented players, so I have absolutely no doubt that we have some really exciting times ahead.
“This has honestly been one of the most positive camps I’ve been involved in. With the experience and new styles that Stuart’s bringing in, it’s a real opportunity for us to grow and challenge ourselves – he has been a huge asset for us over these last two camps.
“It’s been great to have some new faces and see the younger players have that opportunity. They have all been brilliant in training and we saw a few of the players get their first cap in in the Northern Ireland game, and there will definitely be more of that to come. The more minutes they get on the pitch, the more comfortable they will be.
If Rachel plays in the game against Wales on Tuesday, she will be joint ninth on Scotland caps for the women’s team.
“123 caps! That’s something that’s really special to me and it’s a nice reminder to appreciate every moment you’ve got with the national team.”
Fans can watch the game on BBC Wales or stream via iplayer.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
